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Cy Musiker
Reporter

Cyrus Musiker graduated from Hampshire College, then worked in the wine business in New York City and Napa Valley for almost a decade before he succumbed to his true calling as a radio news hound. Cyrus received a master's degree from the School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, then juggled stay-at-home Dad duties while working at a series of jobs: reporter and editor for KPFA in Berkeley and NPR's Crossroads. He was also a frequent contributor to NPR's Latin File, Living on Earth, Marketplace, and for "the smiling man," Charles Osgood.

Cy's work has been recognized by the Society for Professional Journalists with their Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Journalism.

Stories (262 archives)

Symphony orchestras are among the most traditional of the performing arts. But around the country some are trying to reinvent themselves, worried that audiences are graying and fading away. The San Francisco Symphony has recently opened a state-of-the-art club-like venue, where audiences can sip cocktails at their seats and tweet during performances. We visit the symphony's experiment in audience-building, called Soundbox.

Arts organizations in the South Bay have often struggled for survival in a region where people sometimes seem too busy with their jobs for an evening of entertainment. KQED Arts reporter Cy Musiker wondered what happens when a small San Jose theater company tries to lure techies with a play about video game designers.

As the world grieves the passing of Robin Williams, his hometown is remembering him as a neighbor and a surprise guest at local comedy clubs in San Francisco. Williams was found dead Monday in his Tiburon home. He was 63.

There's new evidence every day of the brutal housing market in parts of California. Many housing experts think the short supply of affordable rental units is likely to get worse, at least partly because the state did away with Redevelopment Agencies two years ago. For all their faults, the agencies were legally required to devote a fifth of their revenue to affordable housing -- about a $1 billion a year. What happens now that the money is gone?

About 200,000 people in the Bay Area must find another way to get to work or school. BART workers are on strike again for the second time in four months. Despite a reported deal on wages, pensions and benefits, the talks foundered over changes to work rules proposed by management. No new talks are scheduled and the lead federal mediator working with the two sides is heading back to Washington, D.C.